Late strikes keep New Zealand to 257

January 13 2018

Pakistan came up with a much-improved performance with the ball in the third One-Day International in Dunedin, restricting New Zealand to 257, on Saturday (January 13). The visitors need to win the match to keep the series alive while New Zealand are aiming to extend their unbeaten streak to 10.

Opting to bat, New Zealand got off to a fast start. The first two scoring shots - from Martin Guptill and Colin Munro - were sixes off the opening bowlers. However, Munro threw his wicket away trying to be ultra aggressive. He walked across to flick Faheem Ashraf through midwicket but got a leading edge and was caught by the wicketkeeper.

The windy conditions and the slowish nature of the pitch meant the batsmen weren't going to have it easy. They were forced to wait for a tad bit extra before playing their shots and that made scoring relatively tough. Kane Williamson took 11 deliveries to get off the mark as Pakistan bowlers did well to keep things in check.

While the first two overs yielded 15, there were only 37 scored in the first powerplay. Both Guptill and Williamson were tied down and to their credit, they did well to get through that period. However, the desperation of getting the runs flowing resulted in Guptill being run out.

Williamson had slapped the ball to deep point 21st over and surged back for the second run. Guptill was ball-watching and didn't respond. Even though the throw came to the keeper, he had enough time to relay it to the bowler and run out Guptill for a 62-ball 45.

Ross Taylor collaborated with Williamson to take the innings forward with a 74-run stand. Taylor made 52 while Williamson made 73. However, both were dismissed at a crucial time. The New Zealand captain fell first, in the 33rd over, when he was caught at mid-of off the bowling of Rumaan Raees. Taylor got to his half-century but was trapped plumb in front by Shadab Khan in the 43rd over.

Once the set batsmen were dismissed, it was always going to be difficult for the lower order batsmen. The onus was on Tom Latham to guide the innings forward in the last six overs. However, New Zealand crumbled to lose their last seven wickets for just 48 runs - losing seven wickets in the last seven overs.

Latham fell for a run-a-ball 35 while the others failed to get going. Raees picked up three wickets while Shadab and Hasan Ali picked up two apiece to help Pakistan surge back in the game and keep the hosts to a chase-able score.